Suspended Bale protests booking after O'Shea challenge

The nation's World Cup qualification hopes suffered a blow after their star was booked for a nasty challenge on John O'Shea, but he feels it was harsh

Gareth Bale felt he was hard done by after receiving a yellow card that rules him out of Wales' next World Cup qualifier against Serbia.

Friday's 0-0 stalemate with the Republic of Ireland in Dublin was Wales' fourth Group D draw in a row, leaving them four points shy of their hosts and Serbia, where they head in June.

Bale's suspension is arguably a bigger hurdle for Chris Coleman's side to overcome, but the Real Madrid star insists he did no wrong after being cautioned following what referee Nicola Rizzoli deemed was a foul on John O'Shea.

"I didn't even go for a tackle, I went to try and slide to tap the ball in and he's kind of kicked me, we've collided," Bale told Sky Sports. "I didn't think it was a yellow to be honest, but the referee's done it so what can I do?"

An otherwise uneventful game was marked by an unwanted talking point just a minute after Bale's booking, when Neil Taylor's poor challenge on Seamus Coleman earned him a red card and left the Everton full-back with a broken leg.

Bale added: "Obviously we never wish that on anybody. I don't know how bad it is, but all of us wish him a speedy recovery."

Speaking about the uninspiring contest at the Aviva Stadium, Bale was pleased with Wales' work rate and felt a point may not be a bad result.

"We knew they were probably going to set up like that, make it very difficult for us to get on the ball," he said.

"First half they definitely did that, second half I thought we controlled the game very well. We created some good chances, I thought we were unlucky not to get a goal, but I suppose if you look at the last 20 minutes playing with 10 men, and we're 0-0, a point is not the worst result. But obviously we're disappointed not to get the win.